According to L'Équipe and Corriere della Sera, Arsenal's interest represents a new development in a saga that has run since last summer. Inter Milan held lengthy talks with Koné in August 2025, with the player reportedly approving a move to Milan before Roma — then under Claudio Ranieri — blocked the deal.
Koné, 25, joined AS Roma from Borussia Monchengladbach in the summer of 2024 for €18 million. Last season he made 29 Serie A appearances, 28 as a starter, scoring two goals and adding three assists, operating as a hybrid number six or number eight in front of the back four. He has 14 caps for France and is currently with the national team at the World Cup, where strong performances would only push his price higher.
Inter head coach Cristian Chivu has never abandoned his interest, regarding Koné as a fundamental piece for the midfield he is building. Inter are reportedly willing to invest €50 million — up from the roughly €40 million that nearly completed the deal last summer — and have explored creative structures to reduce the cash outlay, including offering defender Benjamin Pavard, who returns to Inter this summer after Marseille declined to exercise their purchase option and has no obvious role in Chivu's plans, as part of a separate transaction.
Roma's financial position adds urgency to any deal. The club must generate significant sales before the end of June to satisfy a settlement agreement with UEFA, and Koné — whose sale would represent a substantial profit on the original €18 million fee — is one of the obvious candidates alongside Matías Soulé.
For Arsenal, the calculation is different. Mikel Arteta's title-winning, Champions League finalist squad still stretched its resources across multiple competitions last season, with Declan Rice and Martín Zubimendi carrying an enormous workload. Christian Nørgaard's recruitment from Brentford last summer produced limited minutes, and Arsenal's recruitment team have identified Koné's combination of physicality and ball-progression as a missing profile.
Roma are not desperate to sell — Koné remains a player the club values — but a release at €50 million, with two major suitors now confirmed, is a conversation Roma's hierarchy cannot avoid having. With Champions League qualification, Europe's two wealthiest midfield-hungry clubs, and a financial deadline all converging on the same player, the outcome of this particular tug-of-war may be determined less by Roma's preference than by their accountants' requirements.